Liam Byrne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2015-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with Israeli and Palestinian authorities on measures to reduce hostilities.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We are deeply concerned by the recent violence across the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel. We have had a number of discussions with both Israel and the Palestinian Authority over recent weeks. We have urged both sides to de-escalate the tensions. Most recently, on 15 October, the Charge d’Affaires at our Embassy in Israel raised our concerns with Israel’s Deputy National Security Adviser. He did likewise on 12 October, with Israel’s Deputy Defence Minister. On 9 October, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Runnymead and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) spoke to President Abbas about the violence, urging him to do everything in his power to reduce tensions and restore calm.